Ferdinand Robert F, Bongers Ilja L, van der Ende Jan, van Gastel Willemijn, Tick Nouchka, Utens Elisabeth, Verhulst Frank C
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center/Sophia Children's Hospital, Dr. Molewaterplein 60/P.O. Box 2060, 3000 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Behav Res Ther. 2006 Nov;44(11):1523-35. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2005.11.006. Epub 2006 Jan 17.
Separation anxiety and social phobia are intertwined to a considerable degree, and high comorbidity rates have been reported. The present study used latent class analysis (LCA) to investigate if classes of children and adolescents with-simultaneously-high rates of separation anxiety and low rates of social anxiety symptoms, or vice versa, could be identified. Eight- to 18-year-olds from a large general population (n=1000) and referred sample (n=735) were assessed with the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). With LCA, a separate class of referred 8-11-year-old children with high separation anxiety scores, and simultaneously lower social anxiety scores was identified, next to a class of children with high scores on separation anxiety and social anxiety. In the other groups (referred 12-18-year-olds and children and adolescents from the general population), a class with individuals who specifically scored high on separation anxiety could not be revealed. The results indicated that separation anxiety represents a different construct than social anxiety in referred children (but not in referred adolescents or in the general population). It can be concluded that, in referred children, research regarding etiology and treatment outcome of anxiety symptoms should be aimed specifically at separation anxiety and social anxiety, instead of just investigating a broader anxiety dimension.
分离焦虑和社交恐惧症在很大程度上相互交织，且已有报道称二者共病率很高。本研究采用潜在类别分析（LCA）来探究是否能识别出同时具有高分离焦虑率和低社交焦虑症状率的儿童和青少年类别，反之亦然。对来自一大群普通人群（n = 1000）和转诊样本（n = 735）的8至18岁儿童使用儿童多维焦虑量表（MASC）进行评估。通过潜在类别分析，除了一类分离焦虑和社交焦虑得分都高的儿童外，还识别出了一类转诊的8至11岁分离焦虑得分高但社交焦虑得分较低的儿童。在其他组（转诊的12至18岁儿童以及普通人群中的儿童和青少年）中，未发现一类在分离焦虑方面特别得分高的个体。结果表明，在转诊儿童中（但在转诊青少年或普通人群中并非如此），分离焦虑代表了一种与社交焦虑不同的结构。可以得出结论，在转诊儿童中，关于焦虑症状的病因和治疗结果的研究应特别针对分离焦虑和社交焦虑，而不是仅仅研究一个更宽泛的焦虑维度。
